Confidence is Earned
Stop chasing confidence and focus on developing effective systems for building it
If you ask any high performer how they want to feel before they execute, the majority of them will say “confident.”
I don’t blame them. Confidence is an amazing feeling. But it’s just that—a feeling.
And it’s a feeling that has to be earned.
Look back at your own life and reflect on any time in which you felt supremely confident before, during, or after a performance. Now take it one step further and reflect on what led to that feeling. My guess is that it was hard work, effort, and focus that prepared you to perform well, which in turn led to feelings of confidence.
Confidence is a privilege. It’s not a guarantee, nor is it a prerequisite for high performance. If you want to feel confident when it matters, then you have to be willing to put in the work ahead of time.
Instead of focusing on strategies to feel confident, focus on setting up systems that allow you to develop high quality reps and progressively build skill. Here are some questions to reflect on to help you start putting psychological and environmental systems into place:
What habits do you currently have in place to foster quality practice?
What factors in your environment help and/or hinder your training?
What is your relationship like with failure?
What does patience mean to you in the context of skill development and high performance?
Confidence, like many aspects of performance, is an outcome of a high quality process.